- 04:43 PM
- 05/17/08
Kershaw- The Next Koufax? With a curseball that defies descripion, and opposing players jellied legged. Can this 20 year old finally fullfill the promise of the great Sandy Koufax?
posted to Baseball at 7:06 PM CDT
A dazzling Manny being Manny moment I saw this on ESPN this morning and burst out laughing as soon as I saw the high-five. There are few players who could get away with doing something like that.
posted to Baseball at 11:18 AM CDT
posted at 12:31 PM CDT on May 15
Boston Herald Apologizes for False SpyGate Story "On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots' video staff taped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI," the paper announces in today's edition. "... we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed." One fan's reaction to the Pats' hometown newspaper running a false story about the team the day before the Super Bowl: "now and forever the Herald is dead to me."
posted to Football at 7:45 AM CDT
Today's apology doesn't reveal the source who burned the paper with false information.
I think genuine contrition on the Herald's part requires the name of the source. I don't understand why papers don't do this when they're used as a conduit for lies.
rcade -- fully agreed. The concept of source anonymity and the unwritten rules around it should be revoked when it is found that a source has lied. That it is not so allows a "high ranking Pentagon official," "CIA source with security clearance," "senior White House adviser" and assorted other douchebags and miscreants to lie, and to use the press to spread their lies, with impunity. Would outing liars really have a chilling effect on getting sources to speak off the record? I doubt it. At most, it would keep the liars from commenting off the record, which is a good thing any way you look at it.
posted at 11:09 AM CDT on May 14
Government meddling in what is largely a private entertainment industry, it's Comtastic!!!
(rcade -- yerfatma is referencing the fact that a key benefactor of Sen. Specter is his home state corporation Comcast, which is in the midst of a protracted dispute with the NFL over the NFL Network. See, e.g., this article drawing the link and recounting an anecdote of someone referring to Specter as "the Senator from the great state of Comcast.")
posted at 1:38 PM CDT on May 14
It's time to pitch the DH. The most astonishing occurrence in the first six weeks of the baseball season — other than the decline of my World Series favorites, the Seattle Mariners, who played like the Seattle Pilots — was that the National League outscored the American League.
posted to Baseball at 6:09 PM CDT
The DH will never go anywhere because the union won't let it happen.
In terms of the math of scheduling two 15-team leagues, if all teams are meant to play two series per week (usually Mon-Wed or Tues-Wed and then Fri-Sun, but some four game series in there as well and some goofy two-day series thrown in this year for good measure), there would basically have to be two interleague series each week in order for all teams to play to capacity. Plus, the Brewers aren't going anywhere because they typically have their best gates when they play their three home series against the Cubs.
posted at 11:02 AM CDT on May 13
Here's an article from Baseball Prospectus (free content) today analyzing the drop in offense in the AL. The conclusions (which seem to be supported by logic and the numbers) are basically that this is not related to a crack-down on performance-enhancing drugs but that the lower scoring in the AL is driven by a decrease in fly-balls and in the number of fly-balls that are hit that go for home runs or extra base hits, which in turn may be a result of pitching philosophy ("pitching to contact") and personnel decisions (a trend of choosing defense over offense).
posted at 12:16 PM CDT on May 13
It's been 10 years?!
That's right, 10 years since Kerry Wood tied the major league record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game.
You can watch the video highlights of the 20 strikeouts here.
posted to Baseball at 8:05 PM CDT
I really don't care much for the Cubs, but it's kind of sad to watch that video and think about what might have been had Wood been able to stay healthy. Just nasty movement on his fastball, a knee-buckling curve and a wicked slider; he had them all going that day.
Also worth noting that it appears he did not strike out a pitcher in that game, for those who might suggest that this is a lesser accomplishment in the NL. Of course, he did face Brad Ausmus three times.
posted at 8:55 PM CDT on May 6
Actually, I'm wrong on the pitcher point, as Wood did strike out Reynolds once.
posted at 9:00 PM CDT on May 6
Heisman Winner Tim Tebow Circumcises Kids How did Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow spend his spring break? Performing medical and dental surgeries on impoverished children in the Phillipines -- including circumcisions. "The first time, it was nerve-racking," he said. "Hands were shaking a little bit."
posted to Football at 6:28 PM CDT
Maybe the article is just short on facts and the circumcisions were necessary to address birth defects or infections or something, but I would be curious to know why they are performing a medical procedure that is largely elective and cosmetic.
posted at 9:15 PM CDT on May 5
West Brom clinch Championship and promotion. They will be joined by Stoke, and one more team to be determined by playoffs between Hull, Bristol City, Crystal Palace and Watford.
posted to Soccer at 12:59 PM CDT
What I would like to know is how Bristol City finished fourth with a goal differential of +1, winning 8 games more than they lost in the process. I guess a couple of crooked score lines (e.g., a few lopsided losses) could affect that, but it just seems incongruous.
posted at 4:31 PM CDT on May 5
Harrison asked about shooting Indianapolis Colts star receiver Marvin Harrison was interviewed by police about a shooting near his North Philadelphia car wash this week.
posted to Football at 7:32 AM CDT
Here's more on the Belgian pistol that Harrison allegedly owns.
Wow, I'm no Second Amendment absolutist, but the logic and tone of that piece leave a bit to be desired.
"In November (2005) the Homeland Security Department issued an 'Officer Safety Alert' regarding the (BFN 5.7) with the headline 'body armor defeating handgun,'" reported the Associated Press. "The alert said the Trumbull, Conn., police department had seized such a pistol and noted that its bullets were 'advertised as being able to penetrate 48 layers of Kevlar at 50 meters.'"My guess is that a civilian (who in this case is super-rich) needs such a weapon for the same reason someone with money and a supersized ego living in the U.S. needs a Porsche G2 -- because it's the "best"/fastest/most powerful/etc. Americans, as a culture (at least in the higher reaches of the socioeconomic latter) buy stuff all the time with features and capabilities that they will never use or that would never be used in such a manner that the mid-range or lower priced model wouldn't have sufficed, from computers, to professional grade kitchens, to cars and, apparently, guns.
Why exactly would a civilian need such a weapon?
posted at 4:48 PM CDT on May 5
So it finally comes to an end. Julio Franco has retired.
The oldest man to hit a major league home run has finally retired from professional baseball. His announcement came after a Mexican minor league game. At the age of 49, he's finally hung up the spikes.
(crazy Julio Franco trivia inside)
posted to Baseball at 10:44 PM CDT
Best steroids-related quote ever:
"That's outrageous. God didn't create stupid people. When you go on the air and say something like that, I've got to think Andy Van Slyke was born to be an idiot." Julio Franco, Braves infielder, in response to Andy Van Slyke's accusation that he was on "the juice" (Cleveland Plain-Dealer). "God has given me a gift to play for a long time. If it was up to me, I still wouldn't be playing. But God has put me here for a purpose . . . I am on the juice. The juice of Jesus of Nazareth."
posted at 3:00 PM CDT on May 6
Mavericks begin rebuilding from the top Dallas fires coach Avery Johnson after another playoff disaster.
posted to Basketball at 2:39 PM CDT
I thought the Kidd trade looked bad at the time, but it looks even worse now.
posted at 3:45 PM CDT on April 30
Rangers forward Avery Hospitalized Sean Avery suffers a lacerated spleen in Tuesday's loss to the Pens and is out of the playoffs.
posted to Hockey at 12:11 PM CDT
Didn't Nik Borschevsky have some sort of spleen issue when he was with the Leafs?
Nik Borschevsky de-spleened an entire generation of Detroit Red Wings fans back when the Leafs and Wings played more than once every other year (seriously, WTF is up with that?) and actually met up from time to time in the playoffs. I recall after that game that the local punditry (and probably Don Cherry, for that matter) said that Niklas Lidstrom's defensive gaffe on that goal (and probably his positional, rather than physical, style of play) showed that Europeans did not have what it took to be NHL defensemen.
posted at 2:42 PM CDT on May 1
Cheerleader death renews calls for increased safety steps. "Figures show 50 percent of injuries to young women in high school athletics are from cheerleading," [state Rep. Peter J. Koutoujian, chairman of the Public Health Oversight Committee] said. "These girls don’t wear pads, and they’re pushing the boundaries at every turn. While the boys' sports, contact sports, get all the attention, there's a great deal of injuries these young women endure."
posted to Other at 5:50 PM CDT
Shotput -- I have seen reports on the soccer goalposts as well, but it was more like 22 killed in the last 15 years or 20 years or something like that.
This article from 2007, for instance, claims that there have 31 reported deaths in the U.S. since 1997.
posted at 4:52 PM CDT on April 22
MMA Fantasy Draft If every fighter in the world was suddenly declared a free agent, what order would they be selected in?
posted to Boxing at 12:56 PM CDT
Or old Van Damme movie clips.
I was going to comment earlier that my first pick in a fantasy draft would be Chong Li, but then I remembered that he almost killed Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds and I realized I just couldn't go there.
posted at 5:03 PM CDT on April 21
Does speed kill? A thorough analysis of PitchFx data reveals some interesting things about fastball speed.
posted to Baseball at 7:20 AM CDT
I agree with others that movement is a big factor in pitch success, but this article is really all about pitch location (and whether speed matters in different locations).
The author expressly states that his focus on fastballs only is intended to neutralize the effect that movement would have the results:
What about movement? To get pitches with essentially the same type of movement, I'm going to only consider fastballs. Most fastballs (from RHP) tend to have significant tailing action in towards a right-handed batter, and most have a positive spin-induced vertical movement, i.e. they fall less than they otherwise would due to gravity. Of course, not all fastballs will have the same movement, but in general terms they will be similar.
posted at 1:09 PM CDT on April 23
. . . when his hands are full of prostitutes' innards.
posted at 3:34 PM CDT on April 23
Speaking of train wrecks (and this is far from a train wreck), that reminds me of one of my favorite Maddux stories.
So Maddux is down by the tracks, totally f***ing up some hobo -- knocking out his teeth with a baseball bat, cutting him all over with a straight razor and spitting tobacco juice in the cuts, propping him up against a freight car and peppering him from 15 feet with fastballs, I mean working him hard. Just then Smoltz walks around the corner and sees this mess of a man in a heap and Maddux with this sheepish look on his face.
"Holy shit, what happened to him?" said Smoltz.
"Train wreck" says Maddux, and they both fall over laughing, just about pissing themselves from the sheer hilarity of it.
[After they catch their breath...] "Hey Mad Dog?" "Yeah?" "Damn, I'm hungry." "Let's go get some Chick-Fil-A, Smoltzie, let's go get some Chick-Fil-A."
posted at 11:02 PM CDT on April 23
Jays release Frank Thomas: After a slow start, and a dispute over benching the aging star, the Blue Jays release Frank Thomas
posted to Baseball at 11:28 PM CDT
Frank Thomas through Sunday:
.167/.306/.333, 3 HR, 11 RBI
David Ortiz through Sunday:
.160/.267/.240, 2 HR, 12 RBI
I know these two players have different projected performance levels for this season and are in different stages of their respective careers and current contracts, but this is not really about a team expecting to be in contention deciding it can't wait for a player to work through a slump barely one tenth into the season. This is about saving $10MM for next season and ridding the team of a player who maybe has some personality conflicts with those in charge and/or his teammates.
posted at 8:11 AM CDT on April 21
I think what dfleming is referring to is the Blue Jays trading Hillenbrand to the Giants (with Vinne Chulk) for Jeremy Accardo.
posted at 10:00 AM CDT on April 21
Don't forget the all important economic reality that Big Papi will put a lot of butts in seats for the rest of his career. Management will always put that high on a list of variables when deciding ROI.
The Red Sox will put butts in the seats irrespective of whether Ortiz continues to have monster years or declines precipitously. It is probably one team of a few for which the existence or absence of a marquee player has very little impact on attendance.
Maybe Frank Thomas, Barry Bonds and Mike Sweeney could file joint grievances with the players union...or maybe they should just know when to quit.
I don't think it's a matter of knowing when to quit. Why should a player quit when he can be a positive contributor? Frank Thomas can be a productive contributor this year, slow start notwithstanding. You simply cannot justify a decision based on performance when that performance is limited to what amounts to a pretty small sample in the context of a 162 game season. I understand the move from an economic standpoint and maybe from a team chemistry standpoint, but I do not believe it is warranted solely from a performance standpoint.
There is also nothing from a performance standpoint that should keep Bonds from having a job -- a hitter who can put up an OBP in excess of .400 and slug between .450 and .500 is a valuable commodity. There may be non-performance-related reasons to not sign him, but he still has something to offer the right team in terms of what he can do on the field.
Mike Sweeney, on the other hand...
posted at 11:20 AM CDT on April 21
That being said earlier, I do think the Reed Johnson release makes less sense now than it did before. Reed's a productive top of the lineup kind of hitter who might've filled in well as a platoon at LF or DH.
Joe Sheehan at Baseball Prospectus agrees with you:
That actually brings us back to the real problem: left field. Shannon Stewart is the nominal Jays’ left fielder, except that he’s never available. Stewart is hitting .235/.341/.294 in just 41 PA, and while he hasn’t been on the DL, he’s just been unable to play about half of the time. I didn’t hate the Stewart signing at the time, although I didn’t really understand where he fit on the Blue Jays. As it turns out, signing Stewart pushed the Jays to release Reed Johnson, a better player. See? You can always create space for talent. Even if the talent can’t throw and can’t stay on the field. That the Jays would choose to keep Stewart and release Thomas is execrable decision-making, the kind of thing you do when you don’t really know what you’re doing.
Now, the long-term play here is to recall Adam Lind, who should have been the left fielder all along, even though he didn’t hit last season and was sent down, then didn’t make the team in March in part because of the decision to bring in Shannon Stewart. Lind is nursing a minor neck injury at the moment, and has not been called up. If he is promoted once healthy, the Jays have at least improved left field…but that still has nothing to do with Thomas. You could have Lind in left, or Lind platooning with Stewart on the eight days a month that Stewart can play. Thomas platoons with Matt Stairs at DH, with Stairs occasionally playing first base in place of Lyle Overbay, who is once again quietly killing the Jays (.262/.368/.323) with his contributions. You could also just release Stewart and play Lind every day.
The sheer quantity of alternate paths that were available to the Blue Jays four days ago boggle the mind. They chose the one in which they released the best hitter of the bunch based on 45 plate appearances. No, Thomas can’t play the field, but it’s an open question whether Shannon Stewart can, and only one of the two isn’t a joke as a DH. The roster machinations necessary to cover for Shannon Stewart are driving virtually every move the Jays make.
Back all the way up to New Year’s. At that point, the Blue Jays had Adam Lind, Reed Johnson, and Frank Thomas. Now, with Lind in Triple-A, they have Shannon Stewart, Matt Stairs, and Joe Inglett, and they're spending an additional $4 million on Stairs and Stewart. If Ricciardi’s goal was to shift focus from the Troy Tulowitzki decision, he’s there.
posted at 12:29 PM CDT on April 21
Purely on the numbers, Thomas should be a no doubt, first ballot Hall of Famer. Any perceived character issues are going to be far outweighed by the fact that he is one of two marquee position players (Ken Griffey, Jr. being the other) from the steroid era who is widely believed to have absolutely no taint whatsoever of PEDs. I suspect that will be a dominant theme in the run up to the voting in his first year of eligibility.
posted at 1:27 PM CDT on April 21
I assume BK means bankrupt. But I don't recall ever seeing anything about Frank Thomas going bankrupt, and I've lived in Chicago off and on for the past 14 years. I know Frank did negotiate with an investment bank to securitize his contract, but I don't think that ever was consummated.
posted at 9:54 AM CDT on April 22
Have we returned to the days of 'Gladiators'? The ice at Montreal's Bell Centre, home of the Canadiens, will be replaced tonight by an eight-sided, chain-link cage that will hold two incredibly fit men using an arsenal of fighting skills and raw violence to pummel the other into submission. Watching the men in the cage - their muscles clenched and red-faced with adrenalin - it is easy to see the comparison to the blood sport of ancient Rome.Mixed martial arts, and especially UFC, the largest purveyor of the sport, is moving from cult interest into the mainstream. Tickets to tonight's event sold out within a minute. CBS is to begin airing fights in prime time next month.
posted to Culture at 12:31 PM CDT
America is a war nation. Always has been . . . Still, the people who get off on MMA will be the great-grandparents of American Idiocracy in the future -- assuming it hasn't already arrived.
Yes, those blood-thirsty Americans in Montreal.
posted at 2:27 PM CDT on April 19
Oh -- MMA is a Canadian import? Well then, I take everything back. Imagine me thinking that war and war-related sports are popular in America.
My point is not that Americans don't eat up MMA, it's that it is by no means a uniquely American phenomenon and your facile pop anthropology is crap. There are a host of "violent" sports (hockey, rugby, Aussie rules football, Muay Thai, etc.) that have their origins in, or are widely popular in, countries outside of the U.S. Plus America has nowhere near the level of fan violence that accompanies certain sports in other countries.
posted at 3:30 PM CDT on April 19
True, but I don't live in those countries. I live in the US, and so this is my main concern. One can always point to other countries in order to downplay one's own (a time-honored, popular tactic), but it ultimately begs the question, one that you seem to dodge.
I'm not dodging anything; my original point was that you have taken an article from a Canadian publication about an event to be held in Canada to rail against American militarism. It just seems incongruous, is all. Like you had a point you wanted to make and you shoehorned it into a thread in which it's not a natural fit.
Based on your reasoning that Americans love MMA because Americans are a war-loving country (which is how I interpret your first comment after the FPP), it seems to follow that Canadians would love the sport because they are war-loving as well. But I don't know of many who would characterize Canadians as militaristic. I don't see why I have to engage the substance of your criticism of America (which is really unrelated to the FPP) when all I was trying to point out is that your logic is flawed.
posted at 4:22 PM CDT on April 19
afl-aba: I don't think you are a troll, but I do think that your posting history suggests that you often take the opportunity to comment to make points about cultural/sociological phenomena that comes across as axe grinding. The vast majority of your posts are about, or responding to others regarding your prior posts about, your perceptions of America and the nativism/militarism/stupidity/etc. of its inhabitants. While I appreciate that sports take place in a larger cultural context, we get the point. I think you have a lot to add to the discussions around sports here generally (and have found your thoughts regarding the ABA and AFL interesting), but using every thread as an opportunity to rail against some mythical, monolithic American populace that is stupid, loves NASCAR, loves war, and loves violence is tiresome.
posted at 8:46 AM CDT on April 20
Does Evan Longoria's new contract indicate a change in approach to cost certainty for baseball management?
posted to Baseball at 3:10 PM CDT
I find it humorous that the team sent him down to the minors after a good spring by all accounts to keep his service time down and then they buy out all his arb years anyway.
Overall, I think this is an interesting strategy and development. What will be interesting to see is whether teams go to this longer-term buyout/lock-up strategy for pitchers, who are much greater injury risks. The Cardinals have done this with Wainwright and the Rays with Shields, but each of those are only four years guaranteed with relatively low guarantee amounts ($11.25MM for Shields and $15MM for the Wagonmaker) that probably keep the guaranteed years along the lines of what the players may have received in arbitration in any event assuming they stayed healthy.
What is unprecedented about the Longoria deal is that he has yet to amass any real playing time in the majors. When Pujols was given a 7 year/$100MM contract that bought out his last 3 arbitration years, the Cardinals had 3 years of major league performance that was nothing short of historic on which to base their decision. For Longoria, it's two really good years in the minors and an outstanding college career beyond that. By all accounts he is very projectable (Baseball Prospectus has him as being worth $105MM over the next 7 years), but it's certainly taking a risk.
posted at 4:31 PM CDT on April 18
Tejada tells team he’s 33, instead of 31. Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada told the team he’s actually 33, two years older than he’s listed in the club’s media guide and other baseball records after being shown a copy of his birth certificate by ESPN.
posted to Baseball at 10:44 PM CDT
That's been a great trade for Houston.
Well, they only have to pay him for two more years under the FA deal he signed with Baltimore. I think the projections obviously change for him a bit between what he might be anticipated to do (and his likelihood of being injured, etc.) as a 34 and 35 year old vs. a 32 and 33 year old, but it's not like they were getting any kind of commitment from him, or were obligated to him, beyond 2009 in any event. They just likely get slightly lower performance from him for those two years.
I do think that when these types of things come out, that the teams should have the option to void the player's contract. I think they would under normal contract law, but I'm not sure what they can do under the collective bargaining agreement.
posted at 9:54 AM CDT on April 18
Even though it is subscriber-only content, the "free portion" of this Baseball Prospectus article shows the difference between Tejada's projections before and after his "age change." Not a huge difference in year 1, but a fairly big difference in year 2 (the last year of his current deal with Houston), in terms of both a decline on his "triple slash" stats and projected playing time (health).
posted at 3:39 PM CDT on April 18
I agree with smithnyiu. The way you play this as a respectable news organization is by putting in a call to Tejada or his publicist/agent and saying, "We're going to run a story that you are actually two years older than originally believed. Do you care to comment?" You do not do it on camera or try to play "gotcha," which is the tactic of sleazy news magazine programs, local news "investigators" ("Hank investigates!"), Tim Russert, Jerry Springer, and other less respectable outlets. The fact that they asked him his age at the outset (when it's quite clear that his avowed age for the past 15 or so years has been the 1976 date) is just clearly setting him up to look like a bald-faced liar and making the whole thing look that much more dramatic -- "You clearly said earlier in the program that you were born in 1976, but as this [whipping out birth certificate dramatically] document shows, you were born in [AUDIBLE GASP] . . . 1974!!!"
posted at 5:12 PM CDT on April 18
But wasn't he a bald faced liar for hiding his age all these years? I'd certainly call you out if you worked for me and I found out you lied on your resume.
It's OK for Tejada to lie, but it's dishonest to have someone question him about it? I can't imagine that after he dropped that news he would just think it was no longer up for discussion.
irunfromclones -- I have no issue with ESPN calling him on it or outing his true age. Like gnutron, I just disagree with the tactics (which neither I nor anyone else characterized as being dishonest -- I would say it was a dishonorable, though). There was no need to ambush him in an on-camera interview.
posted at 9:10 PM CDT on April 18
Sean Avery does his best to reduce the NHL to the level of the WWE (single link to a Youtube video). The NHL responds.
posted to Hockey at 10:53 AM CDT
It was Ben Davis who broke up Curt Schilling's perfect game in the 8th inning of a game between the Padres and Diamondbacks.
I don't agree that Avery's tactics were "very effective" -- the Rangers scored after Avery's little ploy was broken up on account of the zone having been cleared and Avery was not pulling those tactics at the time of the goal (he was directly in front of Brodeur at that time, but was actually trying to make a play, as opposed to just trying to distract him).
I doubt Avery would have been doing this on any power play other than a 5-on-3, so it's not as if this was likely to become a common tactic in any event.
posted at 2:27 PM CDT on April 16
What's more effective than a goal?
I agree that Avery wasn't doing the "hey, hey, look at me" at the time of the goal, but he was probably in Brodeur's head. On that last rush before the goal, I was expecting Avery to do it again, maybe so was Brodeur.
If the Rangers had scored when another Ranger took a shot that Brodeur did not pick up because of Avery's antics, I would say that the ploy was effective. When the play was broken up and Avery scored later in his shift, I think it's a jump to suggest that his antics resulted in the goal. Sure, he could have been in Brodeur's head, but Brodeur is an experienced goaltender and I doubt he rattles that easily. The more likely explanation is that Rangers scored because they had a 5 on 3.
posted at 3:08 PM CDT on April 16
Rushin' to the Olympics: Former Silver Stars guard Becky Hammons becomes a naturalized Russian citizen in order to compete in the 2008 Olympic games.
posted to Olympics at 11:12 AM CDT
I agree with you that it's not "bailing" in the negative sense. More power to them being able to play in two leagues- I see no problem with it.
Rather, I think that they go overseas to play in the WNBA offseason speaks volumes about the NBA's purported commitment to the league. With other sports, you don't see the top-tier athletes going elsewhere during the off-season because they're taken care, particularly in a monetary sense. I'm not convinced the same is true of the WNBA.
I'll admit that I'm not 100% clear on the economics of the WNBA, but I do recall reading within the last year that the league is subsidized by the NBA and that most if not all franchises operate at a loss. So it's not as if the NBA is lining its pockets with WNBA revenue and holding out on compensating the players. Womens professional basketball is (obviously) just not as big of a revenue generator as mens professional basketball and perhaps is not as big a revenue generator as womens basketball abroad. Should the NBA and/or WNBA owners lose money on the WNBA so that its/their players don't go overseas for more money? If the sport were more popular in terms of gate receipts and TV deals, I'm sure the players would be paid better than they are.
Did any of you complain when Monica Seles or Martina Navratilova took US citizenship?
I actually have no problem with what Hammon is doing (remember that awesome French guy the U.S. soccer team had in the 1998 World Cup when they finished last -- thanks a lot, David Regis), but this line of argument does not hold up. Seles had lived in the U.S. for over 14 years before she competed for the U.S. in the Olympics and, to my knowledge, Navratilova never competed for the U.S. in an international tournament. And each of them became U.S. citizens through a bona fide, "standard" naturalization process.
posted at 10:07 AM CDT on April 10
Like the move of US basketball players to foreign countries, with soccer you generally have (with the notable exception of Suriname and perhaps a few other nations) the dynamic of players going from football-rich nations to generally football-poor nations. While these moves may change the game around the margins -- e.g., in who qualifies for the World Cup, the Olympics or other major tournaments -- I'm not sure that you can point to any one team getting such an advantage that it has materially altered the outcome of a major tournament. (Although I imagine that is of very little solace to those nations for which World Cup qualification is a huge deal in of itself.) I suppose in some respects, this type of fuzzy naturalization is more "dangerous" in basketball, where one player can affect the game in a manner that a single play cannot in, say, soccer. Overall, though, I think it will have to take a critical mass of players from other countries on a winning national team before FIFA, IOC, or whatever other governing body really decides to look to get serious about doing anything about it.
And thanks for the correction on Navratilova, lbb.
posted at 1:10 PM CDT on April 10
One thing I would miss if the Olympics got rid of the national team aspect is the competitors from small countries (or from large countries with no history of involvement in a particular sport) who really don't have a chance but who seem genuinely happy to be competing. It's like the Olympic version of the 16 seed in the NCAA tournament.
posted at 10:34 AM CDT on April 11
Every team sport I can think of has teams that represent a city, state or college/university. How else would you put together a team for the Olympics? Let the richest countries buy the best athletes? Draw straws? I'd be very interested in how you see this working.
I think the only alternative to nation-affiliated Olympics would be to have corporate teams, like in the Tour de France. There is obviously already corporate sponsorship in the Olympics, it's just done on a national or sub-national (e.g., sponsorship of a particular country's basketball team, swim team, softball team) basis. But without the money of corporations or of national Olympic organizations, the athletes would presumably not have the financial wherewithal to compete. In which case the Olympics might become like the U.S. Senate -- a playing ground for multimillionaires.
posted at 1:10 PM CDT on April 11
The Cubs Own Chicago; The White Sox Just Rent There One team finally brings a World Series championship to Chicago, a much-maligned, double-jeopardy Charlie Brown of major league baseball. The other team "celebrates" 100 years since their last championship. So why are the White Sox the city's second-class citizen?
posted to Baseball at 11:49 AM CDT
Mariotti is a hack and I suppose this article was largely intended to tweak Ozzie, as there is no love lost between them. The Cubs are more popular than the Sox not because of how the organizations are run; if anything, the Sox have been better run over the past 10 or so years than the Cubs. The Cubs have the advantage of the long-suffering fan base and the lovable losers aspect that attracts fair weather fans in addition to lifers, a great stadium with a lot of character in the middle of a residential neighborhood that packs them in for its outdoor beer garden aspect regardless of the product on the field, and near-national television coverage on basic cable that has historically made for a lot of fans in non-Chicago markets. The Cubs are just now coming around to constructing and managing the team better, but that is more the result of having money to spend than good management principles.
posted at 2:40 PM CDT on March 31
Anatomy of a trade.
via Truehoop. Again.
posted to Basketball at 12:47 PM CDT
I don't disagree with the widely-held position that there are a lot of really bad NBA GMs out there, but I think this goes to show that the job is pretty complex and that the casual fan who thinks "I could do a better job than X" is dreaming.
posted at 8:46 AM CDT on March 15
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss? This NYT profile of the Brothers Steinbrenner by the author of The Bronx is Burning includes Hank's insistence that "Red Sox Nation" is a media creation. Login info for the NYT
posted to Baseball at 8:29 AM CDT
Funny that Theo Epstein trashed a hotel room after losing Jose Contreras. Knowing what we know now of course.
As far as the Red Sox Nation thing, Hank is wrong to insinuate that there are not Red Sox fans all over the U.S. Here in Chicago, after Cubs (by a wide margin) and then White Sox gear, Boston gear is the most common I see. But, Red Sox NationTM (with the official membership cards, chance to bid on priority seating, etc.) is clearly a creation of this ownership regime and a very effective marketing ploy.
posted at 7:56 PM CDT on March 2
Arsenal's Eduardo Da Silva injured in outrageous tackle, possibly ending his career. A truly horrific injury, broken pieces of bone were sticking out of his sock as he was stretchered of the field. This is the sort of injury that you never truly recover from (See Alex Smith). I hope the FA bans Martin Taylor for life.
posted to Soccer at 1:12 PM CDT
Wenger has backed off of his comments regarding the lifetime ban.
Actually, the Owen challenge on Vidic that tselson mentions could have been very bad as well; Owen was lucky that Vidic's foot was not planted in the ground and that the physics of the rest of it were such that no further injury occurred (although I'm sure Vidic is very sore today). And therein lies the problem with the "cost someone his/her career and you lose yours" school of thought. A results-focused penalty regime (in terms of the results of one's bad action, not the punishment imposed) arbitrarily penalizes those who have the misfortune of causing permanent or lasting injury while those who commit the exact same foul but by the grace of the football gods do not cause injury are penalized less harshly. I am more in favor of what is proposed by wc2k2 in terms of penalizing all infractions of a particular type more harshly in the hopes that it creates a strong deterrent to certain types of play.
Let's face it, as nasty and clumsy as Martin (let's not mistakenly impugn the name of the one responsible for this beauty, wc2k2) Taylor's challenge was, it's not as if he did it with intentional malice.
posted at 11:33 PM CDT on February 23
I see your point Holden, but whether he scores a good goal or not is irrelevant.
Drood -- maybe you're kidding, but my point was that Martin Taylor and Matthew Taylor are two different people.
posted at 8:25 AM CDT on February 24
The PFA should be raising hell and Taylor should sue him.
Your libel/defamation laws crack me up.
Wenger did over react; but lawn_wrangler makes some good points. Add to those that Arsenal were largely robbed at the end of a very emotional day on a dubious penalty. In addition, there does seem to be an active philosophy amongst some teams that the way to beat Arsenal are to be very physical with them, to the point of borderline poor sportsmanship and malicious play, so that's in the background as well. Should Wenger have said what he did? No, and after sober reflection he backed off of the comments (although perhaps not as forcefully as he could have done). But this is not simply your run of the mill inability to lose with dignity. There were/are a lot of extenuating factors.
posted at 4:06 PM CDT on February 24
Belichick and Pioli speak out. A Boston Globe report on Walsh's videos and his firing. Also Belichick speaks about why he taped other teams and it's prority in his preparation.
posted to Football at 4:55 AM CDT
Seems that the Globe article is focused on the wrong rule, which doesn't appear to have been violated (or maybe only violated in spirit if not in a technical sense).
From an article just after the punishment was announced:
NFL rules state "no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." They also say all video for coaching purposes must be shot from locations "enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead."That to me seems more clear cut in terms of what rule was violated. Not sure why the Globe article doesn't address that, unless the AP story I linked to is just wrong (which wouldn't be the first time).
That was re-emphasized in a memo sent Sept. 6 to NFL head coaches and general managers. In it, Ray Anderson, the league's executive vice president of football operations, wrote:"Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."
posted at 10:45 AM CDT on February 18
Liverpool bundled out of FA Cup by Barnsley. Championship League side Barnsley came to Anfield and did the unthinkable, scoring a last-gasp winner 30 seconds from the end to knock out Liverpool, a team currently 29 places above them. Will Rafa Benitez walk alone after this?
posted to Soccer at 11:05 AM CDT
That was much more entertaining than just about any league match I've seen this year. Stark contrast to last week's Chelsea-Liverpool match, certainly.
posted at 2:27 PM CDT on February 16
Why do African teams need European coaches? Paul Doyle reflects on the African Cup of Nations.
posted to Soccer at 7:24 AM CDT
I agree with yerfatma that the mere optics of white men coaching predominantly black teams brings to mind some sort of imperialism.
I think perhaps a bigger issue than the colonialism/imperialism angle from a practical standpoint is that many of these white coaches just suck. We've talked about this in other contexts, but there is a strong pull in sport to bring in coaches with "experience" even where experience has borne out that they are just not good coaches. Of course, there are some exceptions (Bill Belichick comes to mind in American football), but in many instances teams go with a known entity rather than someone who may actually have some creative ideas and be able to penetrate the glass ceiling of on-field performance and success that the Berti Vogts' of the world just can't seem to breach.
posted at 10:11 AM CDT on February 13
Suns go from Run and Gun to Ground and Pound Heat trade Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, pending an MRI of Shaq's left hip.
posted to Basketball at 9:04 AM CDT
Wow, I just don't see this working out well for the Suns if it goes down, but who knows. If the Suns intend to maintain any sort of up-tempo style, there is going to be a lot of 4 on 5 play in the Suns offensive end.
posted at 9:44 AM CDT on February 6
posted to Football at 9:07 PM CDT
I thought the turning point was going to be the 12 men on the field challenge call on the punt that gave the Pats a first down. It just seemed fated that that drive would end in a touchdown. Shades of Marty McSorley's stick in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. But the Giants weathered that one. Very entertaining game in the 4th quarter (at least for those of us without a strong rooting interest).
posted at 9:27 PM CDT on February 3
I read in several places that the "fast track" in Arizona would benefit the Patriots' offense. Looks like it really helped members of the Giants D-line (who really didn't seem to get much traction on the field in Green Bay two weeks ago) as much or more.
As a total unrelated aside: Does anybody else see bigrotty's screen name and read "bigotry"? Of course, this is coming from the guy who reads budman13's posts in his head in the voice of Duffman for no good reason, so take it with a grain of salt.
posted at 10:41 PM CDT on February 3
Now that's funny holden because when I write them I'm doing his voice in my head too....Oh no...Duffman can't breath.
budman13 -- it's all good because we're both Cards fans right? Maybe you could see about taking over for Fredbird as official mascot. But then I would have to read my two year-old son "Hello, Budman," instead of his current favorite picture book "Hello, Fredbird" (pretty awful, but "written" by Ozzie Smith, for what that's worth). And that's a conversation I'm not sure I'm ready to have yet.
posted at 10:56 PM CDT on February 3
I tend to think the whole gleeful celebrations of the '72 Dolphins are pretty lame, but I saw this video/ad linked elsewhere and thought it was kind of funny.
posted at 11:10 AM CDT on February 4
I would answer that with a resounding no. I would suggest the '85 Bears or the Niners of the 80's (1984 in particular).
I always thought the consensus on the best Niners team of the 80's was 1989.
posted at 2:33 PM CDT on February 4
I don't know what a "ruptured duck" is, but I thought that the pass Eli threw had a fair bit of zip on it. The biggest issue with it was that it sailed a little bit and was over Tyree's head. Here's the video.
There's a great breakdown of that play by a Giants fan in this discussion at Football Outsiders.
posted at 9:52 AM CDT on February 5
As far as one of the best of all time, you can't put them in the mix, but how can they not be logically? If the patriots win that game they're certainly in the running for the best of all time, right? So the difference between being the best of all time and not even being considered is a play where the guy catches the football on his head?
Come on. The patriots simply did not play well in their last game. But the idea that they're not a great team, that they were over-rated when the difference may well have been a play that wouldn't be duplicated in a hundred years is ludicrous.
I tend to think these things even out over time. Would we be discussing the Patriots as the best team if A.J. Feeley didn't decide to throw deep on Asante Samuel when the Eagles were ahead and had the momentum in Week 12? Or if Baltimore had not called a timeout on fourth down in Week 13? Teams get lucky to win sometimes and have bad luck to lose; unfortunately for the Patriots, the other team was the beneficiary of a "lucky" play in the biggest game that mattered. I personally think the Patriots season was historic and that they are likely the best regular season team of all-time and in the top 5 teams of all-time. But from Week 12 onward (including into the playoffs), they were not consistently dominating teams the way they were earlier in the season. Contrast that with, say, the 1985 Bears, who won their three playoff games 21-0, 24-0 and 46-10. For better or worse, armchair historians and MMQBs overemphasize how a team finishes.
posted at 11:16 AM CDT on February 5
Senator Wants SpyGate Testimony Before Congress Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan, wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to explain to Congress why the league destroyed evidence related to spying by the New England Patriots. "The NFL has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption," Specter said. "The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It's analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed."
posted to Football at 11:05 AM CDT
So, when I give the 5-cent version of a subparagraph to explain the part you asked about, you become an Anti-Trust Attorney??? You obviously know more than you let on, so read the subparts for yourself. It will explain how this applies and yes, sports does matter. When the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed, granted it was for monopolies like telephone and cable corporations. But, the NFL (a multi-billion dollar industry) asked for and was granted this status. Therefore, they are subject to all parts of the law, not just the ones we wish to play with. I know you are a smart person as I have read your previous threads. But, this is about the legal system and destroying the evidence is a violation of that law - period.
Mickster -- the antitrust exemption applies to professional sports in that the ability to keep out competitors (by limiting the number of teams), the ability of the league to negotiate TV rights on a league-wide basis, and certain other "collusive" actions are exempted from antitrust laws that would otherwise prohibit them. The antitrust law here would not apply specifically to the destruction of the videotapes, as there is no provision of the antitrust law that specifically covers competition within an approved monopoly. As yerfatma said above, the antitrust law here applies in the sense that this is a club for Congress to use against professional sports leagues when the Congress wants to make a point.
You can say politics has no place in sports, but I don't want my kids taking steroids. MLB didn't clean it up, so Congress had no choice. Too many kids die each year. Should we leave it to the billionaires to do the right thing? Wait until you have kids playing sports and they start to ask you the questions.
This argument would make more sense if there was really some sort of steroid epidemic or if steroid use had not been decreasing before Congress got involved in trying to regulate MLB's PED policies. But studies suggest otherwise. (It's particularly interesting to me that Sweden, which doesn't have the scourge of roided up MLB players corrupting America's youth, has a very similar rate of PED use among adolescents as the U.S.) The "for the children" argument is attractive for selling papers and grandstanding on TV, but it just doesn't seem to hold water when you consider the facts. If anything, any "steroid epidemic" in American youth should be examined in the context of the primacy of sports in American culture, the "professionalization" of youth sports, and the competitive and other pressures placed on adolescents by parents, coaches and others in contemporary American sporting culture.
posted at 10:18 AM CDT on February 2
Steve Yzerman Duped. How an 11-year-old (and his dirtbag father) fooled the Selke, Conn Smythe and treble Stanley Cup winner, and future Hall of Famer.
posted to Hockey at 11:31 AM CDT
Steve Yzerman a Hall of Famer? Hah! Maybe in some alternate universe where the world's dirtiest, me-first players are lauded like kings. We're talking about the Greg Maddux of hockey here, people.
What an awful parent that kid's dad is.
posted at 12:16 PM CDT on January 31
Okay, I won't drag Yzerman's name down any further for cheap laughs. My favorite Red Wing ever, for sure. (I know that that may be anathema to some Gordie fans out there, but I was a southern transplant to Michigan around the time Stevie made his debut and was introduced to hockey through the mid-80s Red Wings.)
This kid's dad is the Jeramy Stevens of dads.
posted at 1:21 PM CDT on January 31
Victory and Ruins - The Story of the 2000 Rose Bowl Champion Washington Huskies Pity Ty Willingham who inherited a program that protected and enabled:
UCLA fans, ask Rick Neuheisel what price you're paying for victories next year. Tampa Bay fans, stay off the roads. posted to Football at 12:49 PM CDT
Wow. I am so glad that Jeramy Stevens played a large role in helping his team lose the Super Bowl.
posted at 3:10 PM CDT on January 30
Whoever thinks athletes have any morals is greatly mistaken.
That's painting ever so slightly with a broad brush, huh Shotput? With certain noted exceptional cases such as O.J. Simpson, Rae Carruth and Greg Maddux, it's not like the majority of athletes are wildly immoral or badly behaved. On a percentage basis of the body of professional athletes as a whole, do more athletes run afoul of the law (putting aside the question of "morals," which is so amorphous and subjective as to derail the conversation -- some might say Wilt is immoral, while others would say "Well done, big man") than members of the general populace? I've not seen any studies that suggest so, but it wouldn't surprise me. But to say "[w]hoever thinks athletes have any moral is greatly mistaken" is quite off the mark.
posted at 5:15 PM CDT on January 30
But putting Greg Maddux in the same sentence with O.J. is a little over the top, too.
Twenty-three dead prostitutes and twelve decapitated hobos think otherwise.
posted at 5:50 PM CDT on January 30
Mets Get Santana Pending a 24-48 hour window for ironing out a contract extension and completing a player physical, Johan Santana is headed to the Mets for four prospects - outfielder Carlos Gomez , pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey.
posted to Baseball at 4:22 PM CDT
So the pitching-rich Twins, who have done an outstanding job of developing pitchers but who need all the position-player help they can get, trade the top pitcher in baseball for three pitchers and one position player, and none of whom are top-level prospects? Seems pretty dumb to me.
posted at 5:00 PM CDT on January 29
ESPN's Dana Jacobson learns the Internet is always listening I didn't even learn about this until Jacobson apologized on her show Monday morning, but the question remains: Was one week away from the job that ESPN gave Dana enough of a consequence? Swilling vodka straight from the bottle at the podium and cursing Jesus?
posted to Culture at 9:11 AM CDT
[C]alling the mural of Jesus near Notre Dame Stadium a "mascot," (as is done above) to a football team, of all things, is demeaning and ridiculous and goes to show what a high-opinion sports tends to have of itself in relation to the universe.
I think her comments were in poor taste, but the outrage of the Bill Donahue types is a bit much. That said, calling a mural of Jesus near Notre Dame stadium "Touchdown Jesus" is, to me, offensive, demeaning and ridiculous and goes to show what a high opinion sports tends to have of itself in relation to the universe.
posted at 10:44 AM CDT on January 29
The mural is actually called "The World of Life", and has no actual connection to football or the stadium, save for its proximity to the stadium. The "Touchdown Jesus" name is a joke, as he is holding his hands up in the same manner that a referee would when calling for a TD. Obviously that is not what he is actually doing.
Intentionally painting a Jesus signaling a touchdown, I agree, could cross the line. But pointing out the irony of that mural being visible from the stadium is merely having a sense of humor. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that.
Chargdres, I was being a bit cheeky to draw attention to what I considered somewhat hyperbolic statement by dyams. The main point being, referring to that mural as "Touchdown Jesus" is making that figure, in some ways, a de facto or unofficial mascot.
posted at 12:03 PM CDT on January 29
The Joy of Six The six worst sports movies ever. "Stumbling around seemingly high on botox, Stallone spends his time mulling over snippets of cod philosophy - "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows, it's a very mean and nasty place" - and comes to the conclusion that, by losing, one can actually become ... wait for it ... a winner". The ensuing comments are lively.
posted to Culture at 1:59 PM CDT
When gymnastics and karate are fused, the combustion becomes an explosion and a new kind of martial arts superhero is born. . . Gymkata!
posted at 4:29 PM CDT on January 25
Fish That Saved Pittsburg was so bad that Pittsburg has never been allowed an NBA franchise because of it.
Fish that Saved Pittsburgh was so bad that Pittsburgh's rights to its terminal "H" were revoked!!!!
Spanish rap video set to shots from the Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.
posted at 9:25 AM CDT on January 26
Superbowl: Patriots vs. Giants 2.0 After an upset of the Packers, the Giants take on the Patriots again in Arizona.
posted to Football at 9:18 PM CDT
Oddly, I never saw any video suggesting that anyone was leaping into Tynes' arms after that kick; certainly Coughlin didn't run towards Tynes, that we saw.
According to this story, Tynes ran directly off the field after making the kick.
After the kick went through, Tynes sprinted to the locker room, forcing the jubilant quarterback Eli Manning to hug holder Jeff Feagles instead.
“He ran off without me,” Feagles said. “I guess he thought he was going to get mobbed.”
Not quite. “I just wanted to get out of the cold,” Tynes said.
posted at 7:35 AM CDT on January 21
Patriots advance to their 4th Superbowl in 7 years. Despite his second worst QB rating of the season, Tom Brady and the Patriots advance to the Superbowl thanks to a second half running game and a defense that held the Chargers to only 4 field goals on the afternoon. The Patriots take their 17-1 unprecedented 18-0 record to Arizona in two weeks, facing the Ravens winner of the Packers/Giants game, in the hopes of completing a truly historic season.
posted to Football at 5:25 PM CDT
posted at 11:40 AM CDT on January 21
OTOH, there was this dope commentator last night -- sorry can't remember which idiot it was, I was surfing between a few different sports channels -- who offered up the "statistic" that the Giants have won their last ten away games. He didn't say this, but there was this strong undertone of, "...and therefore, we should expect them to win this next game, which is also an away game." Logic much?
I've seen the 10-in-a-row thing in several sources in coverage of the Giants, but I have not interpreted it in any of the cases as suggesting that it is predictive in any way. More like just an interesting and fairly unique statistic. (Of course the Patriots have won 8 consecutive road games themselves.) I didn't see the same commentator you did, lbb, so perhaps his statement was a more pregnant one.
The more interesting Giants stat to me is that they won one single game in the regular season against a team with a winning record. It's hard to tell whether the Giants have turned a corner in their last 4 or so games that suggests we should overlook their pedestrian regular season or if they're just playing over their heads. I suspect that the true level of that team is somewhere between the two. But I suppose that even if it is the latter case, all they have to do is play over their heads for one more game.
posted at 12:28 PM CDT on January 21
I don't have cites to support this, but I get the sense that there is a general anti-Boston backlash lately on a national level. It's a product of success of both the Red Sox and the Patriots (and maybe now the Celtics, too) and a sense that the Boston fans are becoming like Yankee fans (shorthand for smug, assured, cocky, borderline obnoxious fans who feel that victory is their birthright -- and I know that's a caricature of Yankees fans, but is one with some traction in sporting circles). Success breeds contempt. Whether Boston fans really have those qualities is an open question; I lived in Boston from 1999-2002 and again for a year in 2006-07 and definitely saw more of those types of behaviors in the latter stint, but not to such an extent that you can broad-brush folks into that category. Either way, that's the perception, and it leads me to believe that a fair number of (otherwise "neutral") folks will be actively rooting against the Patriots.
posted at 1:16 PM CDT on January 21
See, people here keep saying stuff like that, and I keep thinking they're pretty much all talking about what they're hearing around their office water cooler -- hardly what an entire coast or 95% of the country is thinking. yerfatma's the only one who's provided any examples of where he's hearing this hating, or not-liking (two websites). Everyone else has just talked about what the whole country minus Boston wants. I dunno, maybe everybody's right, but I'm skeptical.
This is by no means scientific, but it has to be indicative of something (if nothing other than the fact that "Pats haters can stuff ballots" or "Giants fans are internet-savvy") -- this page on ESPN shows that the fans of every team except for the Patriots would like for the Giants to win. (Just click on the team logos to see the results.) I will note that there is every reason to be skeptical of the exact numbers, considering that only 80% of self-described Pats fans want the Pats to win, but again, I would think that even with cooked books, a 31-1 preference has to mean something.
posted at 2:18 PM CDT on January 21
1988, Year of the Card "We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of the great classic baseball card sets, 1988 Topps. We're going through all 792 cards one by one, posting bits about what makes the card awesome and cool stats about the player or team featured on the card."
posted to Baseball at 7:42 AM CDT
I remember thinking that my stock of Keith Comstock '88 error cards (fleetingly worth something but eventually exposed as more or less worthless) would help me pay for college some day.
1986 Topps was the big year for me, though.
posted at 10:53 AM CDT on January 16
Patriots Extend Perfect Season to 17-0 New England defeated Jacksonville 31-20, playing four quarters of mistake-free football except for a missed field goal. Florida Times-Union columnist Gene Frenette before the game: "[K]nocking off the Patriots is within Jacksonville's reach." After: "This was the football equivalent of watching Michelangelo paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel."
posted to Football at 9:36 AM CDT
Interestingly, many haters think that Indy can come into Foxborough and beat the Patriots, haters would have a better choice if SD showed up.
SD has no chance against the Patriots, as the disadvantages SD has at QB and coaching/game plan would be too much to overcome. To beat the Patriots, a team is going to have to be able to hang around on offense, and the Colts are certainly the ones who would better be able to do that between Indianapolis and SD. The Colts just match up much better than the Chargers. I suspect if the Colts win today, the line on the AFC Championship Game would be at maybe around 3.5 in favor on the Patriots. If the Chargers win today in Indy, I would guess we see a line similar to that in the Jags game -- 11 to 13 points or so.
posted at 11:49 AM CDT on January 13
San Diego lost to the Patriots in a grating fashion last year (SD had a great year, but bowed out to the Patriots easily).
You're right that the loss to the Patriots was likely grating, but SD led much of the game and pretty much gave the game to the Patriots -- the game should have been over when Marlon McCree intercepted the ball, but he found it incumbent upon himself to try to pick up some extra yardage and Troy Brown stripped him. Despite their best efforts to give up the game, the Chargers still had a chance to tie on a late 54-yard field goal that fell short at the whistle. Not what I'd call bowing out against the Patriots "easily."
Now I understand that the Chargers were pissed off that NE did the Shawn Merriman dance on the field after the game and that was going to give the Chargers extra motivation going into their game against the Patriots earlier this year in the regular season. A game the Patriots won 38-14, which is actually not even a particularly good indication of how thoroughly the Patriots dominated the Chargers. So I guess I'm just not seeing the "intangible" aspect that gives SD an advantage over Indy against the Patriots.
And lbb, I believe roughing the passer is the only thing that could be called in that situation. (Not saying it was the right call, but it's either roughing the passer or no penalty -- I don't think there is any other basis for a call there.)
posted at 2:14 PM CDT on January 13
I think that basically any late hit on the quarterback is, by rule, roughing the passer -- and that it's also, for all intents and purposes (if not by definition as well), an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
posted at 2:30 PM CDT on January 13
In NFL lines, the home team generally gets a 3 point boost. Do you really think the Patriots, who have been double-digit favorites all season long and were heavy favorites at Indianapolis earlier in the season, would only be 1/2-point favorites on a neutral field next weekend against the Colts?
Moot point now, huh? But I would have suspected less than a touchdown.
posted at 3:22 PM CDT on January 13
and we're having such a rash of people who apparently can't spell Eli Manning's three-letter first name today...wtf?
Check out at least three spellings of "Rolen," mostly by various St. Louis fans, in the Rolen-for-Glaus thread.
posted at 11:45 AM CDT on January 14
Rolen for Glaus? Rolen has a simmering feud with manager Tony La Russa, one that has become increasingly public since La Russa agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Cardinals. Rolen has remained mum publicly, though La Russa has described an environment where one player said he would prefer La Russa not return to the club. That player: Rolen.
posted to Baseball at 3:52 PM CDT
I'm not so sure the Cardinals didn't win this trade. Glaus is obviously not the defensive player Rolen is, but he is a better offensive player at this point and has at least one year less on his contract (he has a player option for 2009). I'll be sad to see Rolen go, as I generally think he "plays the game the right way," but this one is on both him and LaRussa for not acting like grownups. Scott put up some great years in St. Louis -- Polanco, Timlin and Bud Smith for Rolen was a steal.
posted at 7:22 PM CDT on January 12
Goose cooks up HOF induction, but Rice is not on the menu this year.
Only one player was chosen for the class of 2008, "Goose" Gossage.
posted to Baseball at 10:24 PM CDT
Sad that Trammell can't seem to garner more support. I thought this article from the New York Sun on Trammell (and Raines) was pretty good. Of those not voted in, I'm most in favor of Blyleven, Raines, McGwire and Trammell, probably in that order.
I think Rice will get in next year, along with Rickey. I suspect Blyleven will be in by 2011 or so and Raines by 2015. Trammell will never make it with the voters, but maybe with the Veterans Committee. I also think McGwire will make it in with the voters eventually, but the trends at this point certainly don't look promising.
posted at 9:51 AM CDT on January 9
Home sweet home: LSU tops OSU in BCS Championship LSU rolled to a 38-24 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes to claim its second national title in five seasons.
posted to Football at 8:25 AM CDT
Any playoff would probably have to be 8 teams at a minimum. Look at the final (pre-bowl) BCS rankings -- it's arguable that teams 3 and 4 (OU and VT) didn't belong, at least based on their bowl showings. A four team playoff would have left out the two teams who clearly belong right behind LSU (and who could well beat LSU head-to-head), USC and Georgia.
On the whole, good performance by LSU, who finally were really healthy for the first time since the first couple of weeks of the season. I'd just as soon not see Ohio State (or any Big 10 team, for that matter) in the title game next year.
posted at 11:42 AM CDT on January 8
Michael Adams rules! I'd prefer a 16 team playoff but I'd settle for 8 teams.
I think this is especially significant coming from Adams considering that his conference (the SEC) is one of the members of the cartel that is the BCS that benefits most from it.
Georgia vs. Hawaii. USC vs. Illinois? These are the best matchups the BCS can muster?
Georgia v. Hawaii is on the BCS, as the BCS let the smaller conferences get in if certain criteria are met. Boise State gave us a great game the year before and Hawaii a stinker this year. USC v. Illinois, on the other hand, is wholly on the Rose Bowl selection committee. They wanted to preserve the traditional Big 10-Pac 10 match-up and they got what they deserved. How great would Georgia-USC have been?
posted at 1:36 PM CDT on January 8
The Sagarin ratings have the BCS conferences ranked as follows at the end of the season:
SEC
Pac-10
Big 12
Big East
ACC
Big Ten
This is not to say that those ratings are the be all, end all, but it does perhaps provide a different perspective than just counting the number of teams each conference has in the top-10, top-25, etc.
In terms of the Pac-10 and Big Ten adding teams, where do the teams come from for the Pac-10? (It's obviously easier for the Big Ten in that they only need one team.) One thing I have always loved about the Pac-10 is the wonderful symmetry of 2 Arizona teams, 2 LA teams, 2 Bay Area teams, 2 Oregon teams and 2 Washington teams. I also love that every team in the conference plays every other team each year.
posted at 8:39 AM CDT on January 9
Steve Downie at it again. Already suspended this year, Steve Downie takes a cheap "thumb" at the eye of Jason Blake. At what point does the NHL do something serious about the Flyers, who have already been suspended 52 games this season for a variety of cheap shots. Is it a team mentality or just a series of unfortunate events?
posted to Hockey at 12:44 PM CDT
nonsense and dosh is a new england area fan complaining about anything within the past sports year. 16-0 with a cheating coach, sox title, celtics great start, bruins playing well, good BC season...
Nonsense and dosh is anyone claiming that there has been a better exercise of logic in a comment in this new year.
posted at 6:58 PM CDT on January 6
Roger Clemens Roger Clemens states that he did get injections, but they were not steroids. Now congress is asking him to testify.
posted to Baseball at 10:36 PM CDT
Gary Huckabay of Baseball Prospectus chimes in with his perspective on the latest round of Congressional steroid hearings. Amen from this corner.
posted at 7:05 PM CDT on January 6
Ice Bowl is one for the ages The consensus about the Ice Bowl, aka the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic? It was cool.
posted to Hockey at 10:35 AM CDT
Very cool event, but I agree with bender's comment re timing/scheduling. I would put it in the dead period in February after the Super Bowl but before NCAA conference tournaments and March Madness. Perhaps the scheduling in this specific instance was dictated by the fact that Ralph Wilson stadium was still operational and that pushing it too far after the football season might result in greater costs for prepping the stadium, etc.
posted at 10:57 AM CDT on January 2
Chris Bosh really wants to be an All Star.
posted to Basketball at 9:47 AM CDT
Are you more or less likely to vote for him as a result?
I don't/won't vote, but definitely more likely. We need more personalities in sports.
posted at 10:49 AM CDT on January 2
posted to Extreme at 4:07 PM CDT
"Thank you God, thank you ESPN, thank you Red Bull."
Fantastic. Is that some sort of new holy trinity?
posted at 11:10 AM CDT on January 2
Nevermore! Ravens Fire Brian Billick The Super Bowl XXXV winning coach has been fired after a 5-11 season, his eighth with the team and sixth straight year without a playoff win. Owner Steve Bisciotti told Billick weeks ago that he'd be retained for another year. "I just changed my mind," he said.
posted to Football at 4:21 PM CDT
I am fully in favour of the concept of the win being awarded to the team who scores the most points.
Capitalist pig. And you call yourself a Canadian...
posted at 10:52 AM CDT on January 2
Last of the ironmen: James DeAngelis, the last surviving member of Yale's 1934 "Ironman" football team, died Wednesday at age 97. The Yale team earned their nickname in an upset victory over Princeton on November 17, 1934 that ended a two-year, 15-game winning streak. The 11 Yale players (yes, that's 11) all played the game's full 60 minutes, the last time any college football team was to do so.
posted to Football at 6:22 PM CDT
That's pretty amazing that 11 played the entire game on offense and defense. I wonder how big the rosters were overall.
posted at 1:24 PM CDT on January 2
For all of you talking about coaching loyalty, an interesting development ... West Virginia University has filed a lawsuit against former head coach Rich Rodriguez over a $4M buyout. Rodriguez, who left for the University of Michigan earlier this month, has two years to pay WVU back the money, but one-third is due by Jan. 19 and the Rodriguez camp has been making noise about the clause not being valid.
posted to Football at 7:32 AM CDT
wfrazerjr what I meant was that it was well known that WVU was going to take him to court. It wasn't really suprising new news.
I don't know if that's really the case -- these things are typically settled before a lawsuit is filed; it's the threat of the lawsuit (and the concomitant high costs and uncertainty as to outcome) that brings the parties together to work something out. It is not a surprise that WVU is seeking the contract termination fee, it's that WVU has, at this early a stage, filed a lawsuit seeking it. In this case, it appears that WVU is beyond just the normal level of pissed off and is willing to take the next step, costs be damned.
posted at 12:14 PM CDT on December 28
Why don't you (bleeping) block somebody, Gonzalez. A superb Joe Posnanski column from the Kansas City Star. As Bill Simmons writes, "It's incredibly hard to make a column work this well, with this much detail, when you only have 850 words."
posted to Football at 6:55 AM CDT
Great link. The Simmons quote is great too, considering that it usually takes him at least 850 words just to do the intro part of one of his columns, in which he draws some hackneyed analogy between [insert name of late-80s to early-90's TV show or pop culture phenomenon] to [insert name of current juggernaut NFL/NBA team or historically bad current NFL/NBA team].
posted at 9:24 AM CDT on December 28
Bill Parcells signs a four year deal Bill Parcells signs a four year deal to become Miami's executive Vice President of football operations.How much of a lift does this give Miami going into this weeks game against the Pats?
posted to Football at 11:01 AM CDT
Bill Parcells : Cam Cameron :: Pat Riley : Stan Van Gundy
If Cameron survives to begin next year as the Dolphins coach, I would not be surprised if he is fired some time in the middle of next season and Parcells takes over on the sidelines.
posted at 2:23 PM CDT on December 20
Derby to become Mickey Mouse club? Roy (nephew of Walt) Disney's Shamrock Holdings investment group is reported to be heading a US consortium that is seeking to buy bottom-of-the-EPL Derby County. New Rams chairman Adam Pearson denies holding talks with them or with the Walt Disney Co., of which Roy Disney is "director emeritus". Pearson also thinks calling Derby a "Mickey Mouse club" is "cheap and potentially damaging."
posted to Soccer at 6:28 PM CDT
I think what Derby really needs more than this is Aladdin the back four who can actually mark the opposing side's top scoring threat with some measure of success.
posted at 9:26 AM CDT on December 19
Rodriguez leaves West Virginia Michigan has hired West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez as its next football coach following a search that featured two other top prospects deciding to stay put.
posted to Football at 3:56 PM CDT
So I take it you're still working for the first company that ever hired you, and you never sought a job opportunity with better pay and prestige? And that if your friends or family members ever did the same, you'd call them out with equal vehemence?
I don't think this holds water. If you repeatedly told your employer and customers that you weren't going to leave that first company, maybe the situations would be more similar, but this isn't really a comparable situation. And nothing much of what goes on in the realm of private employment is similar to what goes on the realm of big-time athletics.
IMO, corporations and universities stopped demonstrating such loyalty long before employees, coaches and players ever did. If Rodriguez's teams suddenly stopped winning for whatever reason, and the program went south, do you really think WVU would hesitate to fire him if they felt that was the best move for their program as a whole? Do you think it will matter that Charlie Weis went to Notre Dame if their football team has another horrific season next year? I think it's erroneous to place onus for the breakdown of "loyalty" on individual workers when employers are so cold-blooded about the bottom line.
Universities may be cold-blooded about the bottom line, but coaches like Rodriguez have a great gig that many people would love the opportunity to have, and not just for the money. Many of us work under at-will employment situations, where we don't guarantee our employer anything about our employment and we have no guarantees about our employment or salaries. Rodriguez and others may be at risk of being fired, but guess what -- he's going to get paid even if he gets fired. Now that's a pretty good little set up, if you ask me. As I understand it, most football college coaching salaries (at least at big-name programs) are guaranteed, so the coach will be paid even if he's fired. Now, in some cases, the situation has become bad enough that the parties negotiate a buyout and the coach "resigns," in which case the full amount remaining on the deal is not ultimately paid out. I believe in the case of Franchione at Texas A&M, there was a question of whether his insider-only newsletters violated some clause of his contract, so he got bought out at $4MM or so instead of the remaining $10MM he had left on his deal. I'm not shedding a tear for the universities, but let's not pretend that Rodriguez or other college coaches don't have any leverage in this game or that it is reflective of American employment economics as a whole.
posted at 12:42 PM CDT on December 17
Whoa! Here's a turn of events I hadn't counted on...
ESPN: "Source: Attorneys to contest ex-coach having to pay $4m to WVU"
Sounds pretty ridiculous to me -- the University didn't deliver on promises such as giving Rodriguez more authority over VIP sideline passes, so he doesn't have to pay the $4MM due to the school when he breaks his contract to leave? I imagine that unless the University has some major balls and is willing to spend the legal fees to drive home a point, that this will just result in his buyout being negotiated downward. Sleazy move by Rodriguez.
posted at 1:19 PM CDT on December 18
I notice that his numbers in Jacksonville (AA level?) are quite different from his numbers at the lower levels. His walk-to-strikeout numbers are 28 - 49, and his WHIP is about 1.09. While these are good numbers, they are not exactly earth-shattering.
I wouldn't put too much stock in his numbers from Jacksonville last year (only 5 starts), where he was pitching as a 19 year-old at AA, which is pretty impressive. (I believe the average age in AA is around 23.) Also, he was moved there at the end of last year, so some period of adjustment to his new league would be expected.
This year he is at 40 K to 11 BB in 36.1 innings, which work out to great K/BB and K/9 ratios, with a WHIP just over 1. The combination of his numbers, his age, and his level are, to my mind at least, pretty earth-shattering. (Also, his aggregate K/BB at AA is 69 to 28, not 49-28.)